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(No Model.)

C. H. ROBERTS.

. TRAGTION WHEEL. No. 357,034. Patented Feb. 1, 188'?.`

lllllllllllln I Hill-'IS Wil llll'lllmlm Y l vUNrrED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

CHARLES H. ROBERTS, OF WASHINGTON, INDIANA.

` SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.` 357,034, datedFebruary 1, 1887.

Application tiled October 2l, 1886. Serial No. 216.896. (No mode.l

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. ROBERTS., a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, in the county of Davies and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traction-Wheels;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact ldescription of the iuventionsuch as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specication.

My inventionhas relation to traction-wheels for road-engines; and theobject of the invention is to provide a wheel thatwill be simple inconstruction and suitable for use on hard or macadamized roads as wellas soft, muddy, or marshy ground; and to these ends the novelty consistsin the construction of the same, aswill be hereinafter more fullydescribed, and particularly pointed 'outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the same letters of reference indicate likeparts of the invention.

Figure lis a side elevation of my improved traction-wheel. Fig. 2 is across-section on the line w rv of Fig. l, Fig. 3 isa detail ofthe pinionand rack for withdrawing the spades from the periphery of the wheel; andFig. 4 is a K detail of the friction-roller and rackfor operating thepinion above mentioned. Fig. is a detail view showing the wedge whichwithdraws the spade from the periphery ofthe wheel.

A is the shaft, the outer ends of which are secured in any suitablemanner in the framework, (not shown,) and upon this shaft freely revolvethe hubs c c a, said hubs being 'provided with a series of cast orwroughtiron arms,

a b, the arms a being solid extend to the` center of the periphery ofthe wheel and support it,while the arms b extend only about halfway tothe periphery, and eacharm is provided with a central radial socket, B,in which works one end of the rod O, the other end of which is providedwith a'spade, D, projecting through a slot, D', in the periphery of thewheel.

Secured to the rod C is a collar, c, and be-` tween the collar and theouter end of the arm b is a spiral spring, d, which tends to keep thespade D normally proj ected;

E isanannularringorcollarlocatedinsdeof the wheel and passing throughthe recesses ein the spades. This ring is provided with a seriesofwedges or inclined planes, e', (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,) and Fis a rack on said ring in which meshes apinion, f, so that by turningthe pinion it will engage the rack and move the ring to the right orleft, as desired.

Theouter end of the shaft G, upon which the piuionf is mounted,isprovided with a frictionwheel, g, which, as the wheel revolves, passesbetween a recess, 7L, in a shoe, H, secured to a depending arm, H', fromthe frame of the machine. This arm has a slight vertical movement, andthe recess h in the shoe is a little longer than the diameter of thefriction-wheel g, so that if thcshoe be so adjusted that the Wheel gwill pass between the recess h without touching it the friction-wheelwill not be affected; but if the shoe .he raised so that the peripheryof the wheel g comes in contact with the lower side of the recess h thewheel g, shaft G, and piuionf will be rotated, and through the medium ofthe rack` F the ring will be moved forward, so that the wedges e will beforced into the recesses e of the spades D and withdraw them inwardly,so that their outer edges are comparatively flush with the outsidediameter of the wheel proper.

Of course it will readily be seen that if t-he shoe Hbc lowered areverse action will take placethat is, the wheel g will bind on theupper side of the recess in the shoe, and the shaft, rack, pinion, andring move in the opposite direction to withdraw the wedges from thespades and the springs d force them outward. v f

A circumferential recess, I, extends around the outside of the wheelproper at the point of its greatest diameter, and in this recess issecured a series of teeth, i, which form a sprocket-wheel, around whicha chain (not shown) passes to turn the wheel.w By this construction itwill be seen that the driving-power is applied to the wheel at itsgreatest effective point-viz., the greatest diameter.

A very important feature of my invention is the double conical shape ofthe periphery, the rim tapering inwardly from the center ICO both ways;and by referring to the line yy of f Fig. 2, which may represent thesurface of the ground, it will be seen that only a small surface of rimis in Contact With the firm or solid ground, while, as the groundbecomes softer, the wheel will sink deeper and increase itsbearingsurface, thus practically1 automatically adjusting itself to thenature of the ground the machine is being used on.

I have not herein shown or described any particular form oftraction-engine to which this peculiar forni is adapted, as it isevident that it may be used on almost any form of traction, road, orfarm engine; and by reference to my application led October 2l, 1886,Serial No. 216,898, a complete machine will be seen in which this wheelis usedi Having thus described my invention, what I claim is CHARLES H.ROBERTS.

Witnesses:

H. J. ENNIs, R. W. BISHOP.

